Action Scene Cinematography
Battle Scenes
Battle scenes are the most exhilarating and breathtaking parts of any movie. Our generations decreasing attention span has made it increasingly common for filmmakers to focus on action rather than dialogue or narratives. This is evident in more recent toga films which have been advertised for their amazing action. At the birth of the genre however, it was not uncommon for movies to have one or even no battles. As battles where added, better cinematography followed.
Cabiria (1914)
Cabiria (1914) has the earliest and most primitive battle scenes. The camera stays at a static medium shot the whole time. The action seems more like slapstick than anything serious. For most of the scene the action isn’t centered, and the set seems to be laid out very arbitrarily. This is by far one of the least climactic scenes, however, it still manages to be entertaining because of its lack of care.
300 (2007)
300 (2007) has some of the best action in any movie ever. The 300 are guarding Sparta from the massive Persian army, Leonidas tries to lead his men to victory. The scene opens with Leonidas encouraging his men as the incoming army causes an earthquake around them. This causes the camera to shake making the viewer nervous and very aware of the Persians power. As the battle starts our focus changes from the Persians pushing, to the 300 pushing back, and then to the middle when they are at a standstill. The real action starts when Leonidas splits up to clean up the remaining enemies. The camera follows him as he dances through oncoming enemies killing the one by one. When the director wants us to focus on something he goes into slow-motion and zooms in on the action, and between action it speeds up and zooms out to show us what else is going on in the surroundings. The slow motion also shows us the control that the Spartans have, they all move without hesitation even at half speed while the Persians run around randomly second guessing their decisions. The camera work in this scene does a beautiful job of leading the viewer in the scene and emphasizing the actions taken. It is some of the best action in a movie.